Two Belarusians were killed in an air plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday. The Belarusians had been working as pilots on an Antonov 26 turboprop operated by a Kinshasa-based commercial air line, dpa reported. Eleven passengers and a third crew member, a Russian national, also died when the passenger plane crashed Monday in bad weather as it approached a provincial airport, diplomats said. Earlier reports had put the death toll at 11, and identified the plane's crew as Ukrainian nationals. Another An-26 crashed last month near the Congolese city of Kisangani, killing 10 people including a four-member crew consisting of Moldovans and Ukrainians. Unemployed pilots and crew from former Soviet republics, where passenger airlines offer few jobs, sometimes find work flying Soviet- era aircraft in Africa, especially in poorly-developed central African nations. The planes are often decades old and poorly maintained, but lack of decent roads and banditry make road travel in the region difficult. --SP 2325 Local Time 2025 GMT
